SAP-FL Highlights - International Labour Organization

SAP-FL Highlights
Warm applause
welcomed the
adoption of the
ILO Forced labour
Protocol during the
International Labour
Conference
Geneva, June 2014
Joining forces to end forced labour
In this issue:
"The global tide against forced labour is rising and we have seen
significant progress in ending this scourge. But the job isn’t done
yet, because modern slavery still is, unfortunately, big business
and millions are suffering.
We call on governments to ratify the new Protocol rapidly and
to step up action at home and abroad.
We call on workers’ and employers’ organizations – actors in the
real economy – to strengthen their action against forced labour.
And we call on all who are striving for this goal to support the
ILO’s Global Alliance against Forced Labour.”
• Everything you need
to know about the
new Protocol
• Research: Exploring
hidden forced labour
• Fair Recruitment
Initiative
• Country highlights
And for the first time,
some information in
French and Spanish!
Guy Ryder ILO Director-General
ILO Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour
February 2015
Calling for a wide ratification of ILO Forced Labour Protocol
In June 2014, representatives of governments, workers and employers from the
ILO’s 185 member States overwhelmingly supported the adoption of new legally
binding standards against forced labour. The Protocol of 2014 to the Forced
Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) stipulates new binding obligations and its
supplementary Recommendation No 203 provides guidance to secure the
effective eradication of forced labour, trafficking and slavery-like practices.
« The Protocol and the Recommendation represent a call to action. They go
beyond pious words; they are more than text on a piece of paper. Their potential
impact can only be realized if there is rapid and universal ratification of the
Protocol and its complete and effective implementation.”
Ed Potter, Employer Vice-Chair of the Committee on Forced Labour
On Friday 7th November, the ILO Governing Body discussed the follow-up to the
adoption of the Protocol and Recommendation on supplementary measures for
the effective suppression of forced labour at the Intenational Labour Conference
in June 2014. The overall vision supporting this strategy is that when the ILO
celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019, forced labour will no longer persist at a
scale estimated by the ILO to affect 21 million women, men and children
worldwide.
“It is the fruit of our collective determination to put an end to an abomination
which still afflicts our world of work, and to free its 21 million victims. It is a
demonstration of our capacity to adopt international labour standards, to meet
real needs, and in this case to supplement our means to defend and promote
fundamental principles and rights at work... with this Protocol we are giving a
very clear answer to global society.”
Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
The ILO Governing Body requested the Office to develop a detailed action plan
with measurable targets and indicators, taking full account of the discussion in the
Governing Body, and to report on progress.
All around the world, leaders from governments, trade unions, business and civil
society have joined the global struggle to end forced labour. This “global
alliance”, initially called for by the ILO in 2005, is now gaining momentum and
provides an opportunity for lasting change.
IOE and ITUC have always been key partners in this global alliance. IOE has
produced with the ILO a guidance note on the Protocol to support employer and
business engagement. Following ITUC’s active campaign for the adoption of the
Protocol, forced labour will be one of its 3 “frontlines” for action in 2015.
It’s now time to ratify
the ILO Forced Labour
Protocol
Watch our video and read
our brochure to learn
more about the new ILO
Protocol which aims to
strengthen global efforts
« By adopting this Protocol, we will send out a political signal showing the high level
of our commitment to swiftly rid ourselves of this scourge....”
towards combating forced
Yves Veyrier, Worker Vice-Chair of the Committee on Forced Labour
persons and slavery-like
labour, trafficking in
practices.
Everything you need to know about the new ILO Protocol and Recommendation
Together, the ILO’s forced labour instruments – including the new Protocol and Recommendation (No. 203) as
well as the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No.
105) – provide all actors with a comprehensive strategy and a set of tools to address forced labour in a
modern-day context.
What is Forced Labour?
The Protocol reaffirms the definition of forced labour contained in Convention
No. 29 and confirms that it applies to situations of trafficking in persons for the
purposes of forced labour.
When will the Protocol
enter into force?
A Protocol, like a Convention, needs to be ratified by a country to enter into
force. By ratifying the instrument, a government:
• accepts it as a legally binding instrument;
• makes a formal commitment to implement the obligations in that instrument;
• accepts the ILO supervisory system, in which social partners may intervene.
The Protocol will enter into force following registration of its second ratification.
Thereafter, it enters into force for any ratifying member twelve months after
ratification.
What about the
Recommendation ?
A Recommendation, as a non-binding instrument, is not open to ratification. It
provides detailed guidance to the obligations adopted in the Protocol.
Main provisions :
Prevention
Article 2
Protection
Article 3 and 4(2)
Remedies
Article 4(1)
Effective measures
Article 1(1)
• Educating and informing those considered particularly vulnerable, employers
and the wider public.
• Extending the coverage and enforcement of relevant laws to all workers and
sectors.
• Strengthening labour inspection and other services responsible for
implementation of these laws.
• Protection from abuses arising during the recruitment process.
• Supporting due diligence by the public and private sectors.
• Addressing root causes and factors that heighten the risks of forced labour.
• Effective measures for the identification, release, protection, recovery and
rehabilitation of victims.
• Protecting victims from punishment for unlawful activities that they were
compelled to commit.
Ensuring victims’ access to appropriate and effective remedies, such as
compensation, irrespective of their presence or legal status in the territory.
In giving effect to their obligation to suppress forced labour under the Forced
Labour Convention, the Protocol requires States to take effective measures to
prevent and eliminate forced labour, to provide victims protection and access
to appropriate and effective remedies, such as compensation, and to sanction
perpetrators.
Learn more by reading our brochure. A commentary guide will be published soon.
Fair Recruitment Initiative: it is now time to take action
Preventing trafficking in persons, protecting workers
from abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices,
eliminating recruitment fees and costs for workers
are the goals of the ambitious ILO Fair Recruitment
Initiative. It is based on a four-pronged approach
aiming at.
1. Enhancing global knowledge on national and
international recruitment practices
2. Improving laws, policies and enforcement
mechanisms to promote fair recruitment
practices
3. Promoting fair business practices
4. Empowering and protecting workers
Currently supported by the UK, the US and the
Canadian governments, this multi-stakeholder
initiative is implemented in close collaboration with
governments, representative of employers’ and
workers’ organizations, the private sector. Key
partners include the International Trade Union
Confederation and the International Organization
of Employers and its affiliates, in particular the
International Confederation of Private Employment
Services. The initiative is closely coordinated with the
Global Migration Group and the Inter-Agency
Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons
agencies, in particular IOM, World Bank, OHCHR
and UNODC.
In April 2014, a first consultative workshop was
hosted by the ILO in Turin. Participants agreed that
this consultation was a vital step in the right
direction and that an important process had
begun. They stressed that the effective regulations
and enforcement should be one of the
cornerstones of the initiative, including providing
access to grievance and dispute settlement
mechanisms. Several challenges were identified
such as the scope of due diligence required to
mitigate the risk of forced labour.
Last November, ILO and UNODC jointly hosted a
second workshop in Bangkok on approaches to the
regulation of recruitment. Participants engaged in
constructive dialogue on the identification of
appropriate and effective labour and criminal
justice responses in the fight against trafficking in
persons and the exploitation of migrants during the
recruitment process. Discussions also addressed the
nexus between national regulation models and its
impact on business practices in the recruitment
industry.
Another global consultation will be organized in
2015 to present research findings of new studies on
recruitment practices and regulations and their
incidence on trafficking schemes.
The Fair Recruitment Initiative was announced in 2014 by the ILO Director - General in his report to
the 103rd International Labour Conference stressing the “growing international concern about
abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices affecting migrant workers in particular and issues of
human trafficking and forced labour”.
Exploring hidden aspects of forced labour
In 2014, ground-breaking ILO research was able
to measure that the profits generated by forced
labour amount to a staggering US$ 150 billion per
year. The report highlights income shocks and
poverty as the main economic factors that push
individuals into forced labour. Additional factors
contributing to risk and vulnerability include lack
of education, illiteracy, gender and migration.
“This new report takes our understanding of
trafficking, forced labour and modern slavery
to a new level. Forced labour is bad for
business and development and especially for
its victims. Our new report adds new urgency
to our efforts to eradicate this fundamentally
evil, but hugely profitable practice as soon as
possible.”
Guy Ryder, ILO Director - General
More innovative research will take place in 2015. Two
new series of working papers will be launched. The first
issue of the legal series will address “Forced and
compulsory labour in international human rights law”
and “Modern Slavery: The Concepts and Their Practical
Implications”. Additionally, to complement the
guidelines Hard to see, harder to count, on how to
measure forced labour of adults and children, a second
set of guidelines will provide detailed guidance for
qualitative research on forced labour, including how to
select respondents, how to carry out interviews, etc.
In response to the resolution adopted by the
International Conference of Labour Statisticians to
establish a working group to discuss how to better
measure forced labour, a first workshop will be
organized in 2015 to discuss international guidelines to
harmonize concepts, elaborate statistical definitions,
standard lists of criteria and survey tools on forced
labour.
Update of selected ILO projects against forced labour around the world
Thanks to the Support to Free Movement of Persons in West Africa Project, funded by the European
Union and implemented jointly by the ILO, IOM and ICMPD, key members of the Economic
Community Of West African States Commission (ECOWAS) participated in the training on
“Identification and Investigation of Forced Labour and Trafficking cases” conducted by ITC -ILO in
2014. In addition, ILO participated in the Counter Trafficking Annual Review of ECOWAS Member
States. In 2015, the project will build the capacity of national focal points in West Africa including
Mauritania, and provide technical expertise to develop national training plans and the ECOWAS
comprehensive training plan. The ILO will also elaborate tools to strengthen law enforcement
mechanisms as well as support review processes to help conform national legislations to international
standards.
Au Niger, le Projet d’Appui à la Lutte Contre le Travail Forcé et la Discrimination (PACTRAD II) a été
lancé en décembre, en présence du Ministre du travail, qui a reconnu l’existence du travail forcé « à
la fois sous forme de survivance de l’esclavage traditionnel, mais aussi sous ses manifestations
modernes liées, notamment à la traite des personnes, l’exploitation des femmes et des enfants
soumis à la mendicité ». Une des premières activités du projet a permis la sensibilisation des étudiants
de l’Ecole Nationale de l’Administration et de la Magistrature (ENAM).
The Project “Consolidating and Disseminating Efforts to Combat Forced Labour in Brazil and Peru”,
funded by USDOL has contributed to several achievements so far, including:
 Restructuring of the National Pact for the Eradication of Forced Labor in Brazil, which is now an
independent institution, whose sustainability is ensured by a yearly fee paid by companies
 Implementing the livelihood strategy through the strengthening of the Integrated Action
Program in the states of Mato Grosso, Bahia and Maranhão, integrating the efforts of several
actors (government, companies, civil society, churches) in order to break vicious the cycle of
modern slavery. The program has offered vocational training courses to more than 600
beneficiaries, referring them to existing social services, and has conducted formal economic
reinsertion.
 Strengthening the State-level Commissions to Eradicate Forced Labour (COETRAEs), through
the creation of a website to share experiences, good practices, challenges and possible
solutions.
 In Peru, the project has provided training to judges and prosecutors on forced labour.
Diagnostic studies are being produced on informal mining, illegal logging and domestic work.
In addition, the project promoted a prospective exchange mission of Brazilian officials to Peru,
which has led to the elaboration, still in draft form, of a South-South cooperation agenda.
 En Perú, la OIT brinda asistencia técnica a los miembros de la Comisión Nacional para la
Lucha contra el Trabajo Forzoso en la elaboración de su hoja de ruta 2015. Durante el taller de
planificación de diciembre, destacaron la importancia de impulsar la difusión y ratificación
del Protocolo de 2014 relativo al Convenio sobre el trabajo forzoso, 1930, y la implementación
del Protocolo Intersectorial contra el Trabajo Forzoso aprobado en octubre.
In the framework of the MAGNET (migration and governance network) project, the ILO is
currently providing technical support to the Ministry of Human Rights and the National
Committee to Combat Trafficking in Yemen, with a view to developing a national strategy to
combat trafficking in persons. The ILO has also provided technical comments to the Yemeni
draft law on trafficking in persons, including through a workshop in Beirut, Lebanon in September
2014. With ILO support, the human rights, defense, justice, interior and planning ministries have
joined forces to establish a National Dialogue Committee on combating trafficking.
The ILO has also continued its innovative partnership with the PANOS institute to improve media
reporting on migration and trafficking in personsin the Arab States, through discussions with
media groups such as AlJazeera.
Over the past year, the Work in Freedom Programme has made tremendous progress in securing key
partnerships with global and local partners while initiating community based programmes in Nepal, India and
Bangladesh to the benefits of 13,700 women and more than 2,500 men since January 2014. Key capacity
building exercises, primarily with trade unions, NGOs & private recruitment agencies have also taken place
both at the national and regional level. At the same time, two global policy consultations have been hosted to
define common benchmarks on Fair Recruitment and to share best practices on regulation of the industry.
Amongst the achievements of the programme, the following stand out:
 A mission with FSI Worldwide to assess and explore the establishment of a model of ethical recruitment
for Nepalese women migrant workers to the garment factories in Jordan
 A joint mission of Ciett, IHRB, and Verite in December 2014 to explore the needs, building rapport with
the government and the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) for further
collaboration to improve recruitment practices in Nepal

An Implementation Agreement with Anti-Slavery to organize women migrant workers in Lebanon and
provide support services and a service agreement signed with FENASOL to support their founding
congress of domestic workers
 The organization by the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Union (GEFONT) of a consultative
meeting between the trade unions of destination countries including Lebanon (FENASOL)
 The programme was fruitful in bringing common understanding and establishing close collaboration
between the trade unions in Nepal and Lebanon for protection of the rights of Nepalese migrant
workers. UNODC completed their needs assessment in collaboration with SUNLAP and the ILO and
completed two trainings sessions of police and labour officials in Chhattisgarh.
 In Nepal, a study looking at the age ban on domestic workers was completed and technical support
was provided to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for review of the Foreign Employment Act 2007.
In the framework of the ILO GMS TRIANGLE project on “Protecting migrant workers in the fishing
sector in Thailand”, the Ministerial Regulation of Sea Fisheries Work has been revised with extensive
support from the ILO, including technical comments and several consultations, with the
Government, industry, workers’ groups and the Thai Law Reform Commission. The regulation
contains several improved provisions on protection, and draws from ILO Convention on Work in
Fishing, 2007 (No. 188). Inputs were also shaped by the findings of an ILO survey of employment
practices and working conditions in the Thai fishing sector. In addition, the ILO has supported
efforts to strengthen labour inspection in the fishing sector, developing training materials, checklists
and guidelines to facilitate cooperation. All 120 labour inspectors from Thailand’s coastal provinces
have received training. The ILO has provided support to the National Fisheries Association of
Thailand (NFAT) in the development of a Code of Conduct for their members; and supported the
development of occupational safety and health (OSH) training materials specific to fishing. The ILO
is supporting the Foundation for AIDS Rights (FAR), an NGO, to provide support services to
Cambodian fishers in the Rayong province. Information, counselling and training on labour rights,
organizing, and OSH are provided to migrant workers at drop-in centres and through outreach
activities. GMS TRIANGLE also supported the development of the Malaysian Employers’ Federation
Guidelines on the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Workers. So far, GMS TRIANGLE has
assisted 51,374 beneficiaries and obtained orders for US$1.2 million in compensation for migrant
workers.
The ILO Global Action Programme (GAP) aims to build critical knowledge and capacity for accelerating
progress against child labour and, where relevant, forced labour in targeted countries. In Timor Leste, the main
objectives are to support national agencies to more effectively enforce child labour and forced labour laws
and regulations and to enhance a culture of compliance. The project trained 32 Labour Inspectors, National
Police, Immigration and Coast Guard Officers, Employers and Workers’ Organizations representatives and
NGOs to identify and investigate cases of child labour and forced labour.
Save the date
Key events and major publications about Fundamentals Principles and Rights at Work in the coming months:
2
0
1
5
February
March
April
May
Workshop on statistical
measurement of forced
labour and trafficking
(Geneva)
New York: Event on Forced
labour for the World Day of
Social Justice
Launch of "Promoting
Equity. Ethnic diversity in the
workplace: A step-by-step
guide"
Pilot launch of e-learning
course for Labour
Inspectors and Child Labour
Monitors
Launch of the 50 for
Freedom campaign for the
ratification of the Forced
Labour Protocol
ILO course on “Identifying
and investigating cases of
forced labour and human
trafficking” (ILO ITC Turin)
Mesa de socios para el
desarrollo de la Iniciativa
Regional de América Latina
contra el Trabajo Infantil
Final event of the "Music
against Child Labour"
national-level competition
for secondary school
students (Italy)
June
July
ILO International Labour Conference (Geneva)
Global Conference of the Fair Recruitment Initiative
New SCREAM (Supporting Children's Rights through
Education, the Arts and the Media) Special Module on
Child Labour in Agriculture
Launch of “Collective Bargaining – A policy guide”
World day against Child Labour
Domestic workers rights: Let’s keep the momentum
Very few of the estimated 53 million domestic workers
worldwide are covered by labour laws. In 2011, the
ILO's Member States adopted the Domestic Workers'
Convention (N°189) to protect their rights, promote
equality of opportunity and treatment, and improve
working and living conditions. So far, 17 countries have
ratified this convention. Let's keep the momentum!
Discover our new video “Rights for all workers, rights for
domestic workers, get involved !”
ILO Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web Site: http://www.ilo.org/forcedlabour
Facebook: www.facebook.com/forcedlabour
Our vision is that no person, of any age, race, origin or religion, anywhere, spends a day of his or her
life working under duress and suffering degrading or inhuman treatment.